dark eyes
by TheLostPotato
Summary: Hiccup has a secret. It's dark. Trigger warning. contains self harm. Don't like don't read.
1. Chapter 1

**okay so this is my first httyd fic don't leave hate please. I'm going through a rough time. Self-harm. Don't like don't read. Set before and during the movie.**

Hiccup tossed and turned. He was a failure. He was never going to amount to anything. He had no friends. None who were his age anyway. He guessed that he had Gobber, but even he made fun of him.

The laughing. The taunting. He couldn't stand it. He wanted to be alive, to feel it as he had when he was young, but that wasn't likely to happen again.

He sighed and sat up. It was the middle of the night. He didn't want to wake anyone, but maybe it would help him feel alive, feeling the pain again. He remembered cutting his hand on a blade he was making earlier. He remembered the way it felt.

He needed to feel that again. He wouldn't have been able to explain it to anyone else, the way it made him feel. It was relief. It was freedom.

Hiccup pulled the blade from his belt and rolled up his sleeve. He had heard about people doing this before, and being exiled. If they found out, so be it. He took a deep breath, wondering if it actually helped.

He gently brought the blade down on his skin and moved it slowly, leaving a small scrape. It was small, but it helped a lot. He wondered if making it bleed would feel even better.

It was dark, and he couldn't see anything. He set the point of the blade on his skin and dragged it. There was blood everywhere. He never wanted it to go this far.

He was glad that he couldn't feel any of the hate welled up inside, but there was blood everywhere. There was nothing to wipe it on to keep it from getting on his bed. He stood up and held it over the floorboards. He tried to light a lamp as well as he could with his condition.

The sudden light almost hurt his eyes. He looked down. There was one cut flowing with blood, another with tiny beads he hadn't noticed before. Hiccup attempted to stop the bleeding by pressing the edges of the larger gash together.

Blood started to hit the floor and he licked up what was still on his arm in an attempt to get rid of it. He didn't like the taste, but what else was he supposed to do.

His dagger became his best friend. He always kept his sleeves down now, never taking off his shirt in front of anyone. It was hard to live like this. He was weak.

Some nights, he didn't sleep. Sometimes, he wanted to end it all, but knew that there had to be something out there for him. He wouldn't give in to that. He promised it to himself.

Hiccup was soon covered in old scars and new cuts. He began to use the space on his stomach and chest, but that only reminded him of how weak and scrawny he was.

He began to love the scars, and sometimes would stand in his room, admiring them, wondering where to make his next mark. Some of them were lines, but others formed words. He was covered in things such as "useless" and "no more" and his favorite "hate them".

He didn't want to eat anymore. He stopped eating most of his meals.

Hiccup was skinny, finding it hard to hold a weapon, making clumsy mistakes, he was always tired and pale. He hated himself. He wanted it to all end so bad, but his heart told him that there was something there worth fighting for, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

He loved the pain so much, and grew very fond of the taste of blood. He wanted to kill a dragon, make himself popular. It was the only living thing he could think of hurting besides the other Vikings. He wanted friends.

Stoick began to worry. He had honestly had doubts about his son's sanity, but mostly because of the way he stormed out during a dragon attack, trying to fight like the others.

One day, Hiccup had just "finished" his meal, going to throw most of it to the animals, when Stoick confronted him. "Son," he said, " what's going on?" he gestured to the nearly full plate. "What do you mean?" he asked, irritated.

"Hiccup, you don't eat anymore, spend ALL of your free time in your room, and you're getting weaker," he said mumbling, "if that's possible." "dad, I just want to be alone," Hiccup tried to get out the door.

Stoick blocked him, "son, what's wrong?" Hiccup had never seen Stoick that fatherly before, but he still didn't want anyone to know. It was his secret.

"I'm just tired," Hiccup replied, not wanting to give anything away. Stoick looked like he wanted to protest to his son's sudden leaving, but he didn't quite know what to say.

Hiccup went outside, tossing the contents of the plate on the ground. He came in and walked towards his room, only to find Stoik unhinging the door.

"Dad, what are you doing?" he demanded, upset. "Hiccup I have to know what you're doing up there all the time. Hiccup tried to protest, but it was useless. He had to move out of the way as Stoick carried a large piece of wood down the stairs.

He walked into the room, already forgetting the door wasn't there and reaching for it, but falling over. He was a mess. He climbed into bed, wanting his blade at that exact moment, but Stoick came up to look in on his son.

He pretended to sleep until he heard footsteps going down the stairs again. He sighed softly. Hiccup would often cry and began to do so. He had lost his father's trust completely.

He waited another hour, but still being early, his father was still awake. He knew it would be dangerous to do it while he was still there, but he couldn't take it any longer.

He was about to sit up when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He shut his eyes again, and after a minute, he heard them go back down again. He waited a few seconds to sit up, but he didn't have to be so secretive anyway. He could feel a cold gust of air coming up from the open door.

The icy blade felt good against his stomach. He never wanted to stop doing this. If anyone found out, they would try to make him stop, but if his father did, he would be sent away.

He decided right there and then never to tell anyone. They would take this away from him. It was his only way to get away from them. He needed to feel alone. He couldn't take any more rejection.

Hiccup grew tired. It always had done that. It calmed him. Made him sleep. He loved the way it comforted him, as if it were the mother he never had; clearing his mind, but mostly, making him feel loved.

He woke early, as it was still half dark outside. He could see relatively clearly, although he suddenly wished he couldn't.

Everything was stained a deep red. He would have to go to the river to clean it. People would see him on the shore and wonder what he was doing.

He hoped that nobody would notice him slipping out the back of his house, sheets and a clean shirt in hand. He was cold due to the fact that there was fresh blood still soaking his shirt.

He had to move fast. He was glad that the sheets were not a light color, but for his shirt, well, he needed a new one anyway. It was ragged and torn and tight on him. He cleaned up his scar-filled stomach and winced as the water wasn't entirely clean.

Hiccup finished washing his sheets, but didn't quite know what to do with the shirt. He wanted to bury it, but knew he wouldn't have time. He decided to throw it in the river and let the current sweep it away. He ran back to his house.

He climbed into the back window, trying not to wake his father who was most likely still sleeping. He hung the sheets over a beam on the ceiling.

Hiccup started to walk down the stairs to find his father standing next to the table, watching him angrily. "oh hi dad," he stumbled over a step. "Hiccup," he said sternly, "where have you been?"

"Um, well dad I umm," he stumbled on his words, trying to find the right syllables, "I went to wash the sheets on my bed," he said, " I knew it was laundry day, and umm, I wanted to lighten your load," he half lied.

"You should have told me where you were going first son," Stoick was upset, but asked, "did you get all your clothes too?" Hiccup didn't want to sound suspicious, so he told his father that he had.

Stoick knew that his son had just wanted to get out of the house. He would have too if his father had done that to him. "Hiccup?" he asked, "umm, I'm sorry about taking your door down. It'll be back up by tomorrow." Hiccup was happy that his privacy was no longer being invaded, and replied, "thanks dad!"

Hiccup was grateful, but was still filled with hatred. It was half for himself, half for the human race. He was lonely though. He needed a friend. He wondered if he should just give up. He wanted to end it all again, but he was strong. He had to stay strong. He didn't know what it was, only that his future would be great.

He didn't want a friend as much as someone who loved him. He could get by without friends. He wanted a true love.

The next morning, there was a huge dragon attack. "Get back inside!" and "what are you doing?" were the only things he could hear, but he didn't care.

A large hand grabbed him and he heard, "Hiccup!" he knew he was in trouble but he didn't care. "what is he doing outside?" heard his father angrily say and repeat the question to him, "What are you doing outside?"

He ran off to Gobber's shop to deal with the most likely overwhelming repair orders. Sure enough, they were. It was the middle of an attack and people were worried about who had the sharpest blade. If it could cut through a dragon, it was good enough for him.

Gobber made a remark about Hiccup being a toothpick, and he took it hard, but didn't say anything to defend himself. He saw the girl he liked, Astrid, and watched her put out a fire. She was beautiful. Not like anything would ever happen between them though.

Hiccup made more mistakes on his workmanship, and Gobber scolded him. Hiccup didn't care. He picked up a blade and began to sharpen it at the grindstone. He suddenly heard someone scream "NIGHTFURY!" and a bellowing sound came through the town.

Gobber left to fight, and this was his chance. It was his chance to be recognized. He wheeled his catapult out of the smith and ran. He ran as fast as he could. He was going to take down a nightfury.

**Wasn't gonna have multiple chapters, but oh well.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okey dokey chapter two for all the Vikings out there.**

Hiccup ran with the catapult as fast as he could, until he came upon a hill. It was clear. He didn't see any dragons. It was silent, but he waited.

He heard a screeching cry. He had hit a night fury. His celebration was short lived, as another dragon came up behind him and chased him.

His father saved him, but not mentally. Hiccup tried to explain, but his father countered him with, "Every time you step outside, disaster falls. Can you not see that I have bigger problems?" He said more but Hiccup didn't pay attention to the rest. He was too focused on his failure. Even though he had done what it took to make it to the top, he was still a failure.

He argued with his dad a little longer, but was escorted to his home by Gobber. He immediately snuck out the back of the house. He walked off into the forest. "The Gods hate me," he muttered. It felt good to say it aloud. He walked off, suddenly seeing it. He was surprised. It was bigger than he thought it would be. He ducked down. He wondered if it could see him. He was amazed at it and reached for his trusty dagger. It wasn't there. He reached back farther for it. False alarm.

Hiccup was amazed. He was about to kill his first dragon. He was scared. What if it got free? What if it attacked him?

The beast opened its eye. It was so dark, so lonely. It ached him to know he had to kill it. Hiccup pointed the dagger. He shook terribly and grew cold. Just as he was about to thrust it into its heart, he realized that this beast, it didn't have to die. It had the same fears and hates as him. It shut its eyes. It would die without a fight, like him.

Hiccup stopped himself, and realizing what a monster he was, said, "I did this." He used the much used blade to cut the ropes tied around the dragon.

It jumped on top of him, looked into his eyes, and now, Hiccup even waited to die. But no such sweet release came. A loud echoing scream-like roar hit him in the face.

The beast tried to fly off, but there seemed to be something wrong with it. It couldn't seem to pick up the altitude. Hiccup was so terrified that he passed out.

On his way to his room, to let off steam and hurt himself for what he had almost done to this living creature with feelings, he had tried to be quiet, but he was not quiet enough. Stoick confronted him and before he could say he didn't want to fight dragons, he didn't want to hurt them, his father informed him that he would be doing dragon training the next day. He tried to protest, but it was no use.

Stoick was leaving. It was great having the house to himself, but he wasn't happy about any of this. As Stoick was leaving, he told his son, "I'll be back, probably." Hiccup didn't quite know how to respond to this, so he just replied with, "I'll be here, maybe." He didn't want to end up in hell, so he prayed to the Gods to forgive him, and when he almost took his life, he could hear the dragon, in his head, calling out to him. It still needed him. It wasn't too deep. He wouldn't bleed much.

Although he had not killed himself, he was very upset. He couldn't take it. That night, he cried half the night and cut deeper than ever before. He didn't want to hurt any dragons.

During dragon training the next day, he was weaker than usual, and completely out of it. He had a hard time even standing up. It was terrible. The others laughed at him, and he pretended to ignore it, but it was a hard thing to do. He almost cried in the arena. He came close to death again, and wanted to accept it, but Gobber wouldn't let him.

Hiccup went back to see the night fury, wondering why it hadn't killed him. He thought the dragon was beautiful. He admired it for a moment, and sketched it on his notebook. The dragon seemed to not be able to catch itself food. It was starving. Hiccup sighed. What was he going to do? This was his fault.

He dropped his charcoal and froze. He had been heard. It just looked over at him. It wasn't going to hurt him.

Hiccup returned to the main hall to eat, where he faced more bullying. After retrieving his charcoal, he was soaked. Nobody seemed to say anything about it. He was glad. He might have been accused of having a "wet dream" and he couldn't take any more of this.

Their assignment was to read a book, and everyone seemed to avoid him. He was the only one there. He read during the night. These were fascinating. He doubted he would ever see many of these dragons, but it was very interesting indeed.

Interesting, until he read the bottom of the page. He frowned. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. The book might as well say kill everything you see. When he turned to the last page, he read the words night fury, but there was nothing there. Instead of reading "kill on sight," he read, "never engage this dragon"

This worried him. The next day in training he asked about night furies, but was cut off by a deadly nadder shooting flames at him. It was terrible. The animal was only scared. It didn't need to be scared of him though.

Hiccup was curious and tried to ask questions, but this was the middle of class. At the end, Astrid got her axe stuck in his shield, but he was to terrified to let go of it. "Is this some kind of a joke to you? Our parents' war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on. If it weren't for his crush on this girl who seemed to hate him, he would have right then and there told the whole world that he was on the dragons' side.

Hiccup left the training arena to go to his dragon. Remembering that it was hungry, he picked up some fish and brought that, and a shield, to where the night fury was.

The dragon looked at him. It wasn't a look of hate, or fear, but Hiccup couldn't quite place it. The dragon probably just wanted the fish. He held it out for the beast to take. It inched towards him, then, seeing the dagger, retreated. Hiccup took out his friend, dropped it on the ground and kicked it away. He would pick it back up later. It seemed to immediately become comfortable with his presence. Hiccup offered the dragon the fish again. He noted that it didn't have teeth, until they came out. It took the fish from his hands and began to sniff him.

He backed up against a rock and the dragon seemed to stare into his soul. It started coughing, or choking or something, then spit out a fish tail for Hiccup. He was a little disgusted, but he took it and ate it as the dragon watched eagerly. He gave a forced smile, and it was a quick learner. It began to give a sort of smile, if you could call it that.

He felt a strong connection with it, and reached out to touch it. It was too soon. The dragon seemed to soar away, but didn't glide too far. It warmed the ground and laid down. Hiccup sat down next to him. He tried to touch the black beauty's tail to examine it, but it was still a bit scared. It wouldn't let him touch it yet.

He slept in a tree, but Hiccup drew on the ground with a stick. He seemed interested when it awoke. He looked at his drawing, and, on his hind legs, he took a large tree branch and began to draw random lines in the soil. The dragon shared Hiccup's creativity.

He was amazed at the "toothless" night fury's intelligence. When he stepped on a line, it growled at him, so he stepped around them and marveled at the lines. He tried to touch him once again, and this time, the dragon responded by touching his face to Hiccup's hand.

This was a new beginning. The only one who didn't mock him was here. Maybe he even understood him.

When hiccup went to eat with the other students, Gobber explained the weak spots on dragons. These were the wings and the tails. Hiccup realized why he couldn't fly away. It was his tail. He left immediately. He had to fix his notebook, and even make the dragon a "new tail."

The next morning, he brought him a whole basket full of fish. It seemed to back away. Even the mention of the word "eel" scared him away. Hiccup tossed it to the side, and the dragon began to eat immediately.

He strapped the tail on while the dragon was eating. He took off immediately. Hiccup moved the tail so that he could fly. The night fury, thinking it was all clear, shook him off, falling back into the lake. They needed each other.

Hiccup took the eel with him to dragon training, and scared the dragon back into its pen the next day. They were all speechless. Nobody knew what had just happened. That night, he built a saddle to ride the dragon, but fell off and had to make a hook. He discovered a type of grass that made the dragons pass out, and used it again, against the dragon in the ring. He began using tricks he learned with the night fury on dragons while he trained.

He grew very close to this dragon, whom he had decided to call toothless. He became popular. All of his dreams were coming true, with the exception of Astrid. He was doing well now, but honestly didn't know if that was actually what he wanted. There were points in time where he couldn't breathe because of all the people around him, and he tried to hide it, but it didn't always work.

He worked on his saddle one day, to find that Astrid was throwing an axe at a tree in the woods. He kept on running. Once he even led Toothless into town to fix the saddle to the perfect size. Astrid saw him again, but not Toothless. She was becoming very suspicious.

Hiccup's father returned, and was proud of his son. He was proud and started rambling on about spilling a nadder's guts. Hiccup was going to be sick. It was the first time he had cut in days, and that was the longest he had gone in the past few months.

He wanted to cry all night. He never wanted this. Well, maybe he might have before, but not now. When he snuck out to see Toothless in the morning, Astrid was sitting there. She had found their spot. There was a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, like she had done something to Toothless. Astrid threatened him and questioned him, but then there was a growling noise.

She looked around, only to find that there was a black dragon staring back at her. It came at her like a raging fire, and she pushed Hiccup out of the way to hit him with her axe, but he came between them. Astrid was terrified that he had been keeping a dragon as a pet. She started to run back when Toothless grabbed her and took her up in the air.

He didn't know if he should be terrified or excited, but Hiccup's heart fluttered as Astrid climbed on the dragon. "Now take us down, nice and steady," he commanded. Toothless wasn't in the mood for letting Astrid rat out his master. He knew how these emotions worked. He took them up in the air and after a few terrifying minutes of maneuvers, she cried out, "I'm sorry!"

Toothless began soaring beautifully, parallel to the sunset. Astrid leant her head against Hiccup, and at that moment, he realized that he had everything that he had ever wanted. At that moment, he realized that life wasn't that bad. At that moment, he told himself he would never cut again.

**It's a little shorter than the last chapter, but please review. Thanks! I think this is the most popular story I've ever written and I did read suggestions, and I think they're great and will probably use some of them.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for reviews. I really appreciate it! I've decided to make this a what-if fanfic. I'm getting carried away. I'm gonna keep writing stuff, but updates will come once a week or more.**

Astrid admitted that it was great. She seemed to love flying. "So what now?" she asked, still unsure of how Hiccup could train this beast. Then she realized something. "Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow. You know you're gonna have to kill a-" she stopped and whispered," kill a dragon," in fears that Toothless might hear.

"Don't remind me," he said thinking about what he had just told himself. He knew he wouldn't keep that promise to himself. He would try to go as long as he could, but he couldn't keep it forever. He felt like he had to tell someone. Something urged him to. He didn't know if he could trust anyone, but he certainly couldn't keep it welled up inside. He didn't know whether or not to trust her. He decided that nobody would know for the time being.

Out of nowhere, dragons started showing up. They were all flying in one direction and Hiccup whispered to Astrid, "duck!" and she did so, not wanting to be killed by dragons. "What's going on?" she whispered. Hiccup was actually scared and replied, "I don't know." He put his hand on the dragon's head to gain his attention, "Toothless, you gotta get us outta here bud." Toothless just jerked his head away and kept flying.

Hiccup was really beginning to become scared, "It looks like they're hauling in their kill." He was never scared of dying. He was scared of Astrid dying. "Umm, what does that make us?" she asked, terrified. Hiccup didn't answer her. He was trying to figure out what was happening.

They rode into a large cave, and all the dragons around them dropped food into a foggy pit. "It's satisfying to know all of our food's being dumped in a hole," Hiccup said. He was irritated. Why would they do this? A gronkel flew in lazily, only dropping a loaf of bread into the pit.

It began to move away when a dragon a million times bigger than Hiccup had ever seen poked out his gigantic head and ate the gronkel. They both gasped, and Astrid whispered, "What is that?" Dragons everywhere in the cave began to cower.

Hiccup's command to Toothless to get out of the cave barely kept them alive, missing the dragon's gigantic jaw by less than a foot. They got back, and Astrid was about to tell Hiccup's father, when he stopped her. "No, not yet. They'll kill Toothless! Astrid, we have to think this through carefully." Astrid countered with, "Hiccup, we just discovered the dragons' nest! The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here. And you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon? Are you serious?"

One word could convince her otherwise. "yes" Astrid realized that this was the only friend he had. He would figure out something else. Girls were so confusing most times. Astrid punched him in the arm, kissed him on the cheek and left him standing there dumbstruck.

He reported to the arena the next morning, although his gut told him not to. He was going to run away if anything went wrong. All the things he needed were still packed away in a basket with Toothless. "be careful with that dragon," Astrid told him. He wasn't honestly worried about the dragon. He was worried things would go wrong with his father.

"Astrid," he faced his possible sudden demise without fear, "If something goes wrong, just make sure they don't find Toothless." "Promise me that nothing will go wrong." He looked into her eyes, and she gasped. She saw the pain he felt. She had the same pressures too. She had to be the top viking, but she was a girl. It just couldn't be done. Gobber pulled him away before he could say anything.

He entered the ring and heard his name being called, and told himself that he was better than letting the prying eyes get to him. He took a shield and a dagger and instantly noted his father's disapproving look. This was going to end badly. He knew it. "I'm ready," he shook as the doors were opened and out came a flaming monstrous nightmare.

He began to come close, and without warning, he dropped his shield, dagger, and helmet. Everyone was confused. What was Hiccup doing? "I'm not one of them," he confidently told the dragon. "Stop the fight," Stoick commanded, fearing for his son's life. He knew of his habit and what it sometimes led to. "Not like this," he thought. "I need you all to see this," Hiccup slowly neared the dragon. "STOP THE FIGHT," Stoick yelled. The dragon was scared. It chased Hiccup around. He knew it might be the end for him, but he felt like he had at some point, done what he was here for. But this time was different. He was scared to die.

Just as he was pinned, as he was closing his eyes, begging for death, a force pushed the dragon off of him. No. This couldn't happen. Toothless couldn't be here. He tried to push the stubborn dragon to get out of the ring, but he wouldn't leave Hiccup's side. He fought off multiple vikings in the ring before Hiccup screamed for him to stop. Nobody needed to get hurt. They piled on top of him and Hiccup was terrified. Astrid held him back from Toothless. "Oh, no, no, no, please, just don't hurt him. Please don't hurt him."

"I should have known. I should have seen the signs," Stoik threw his son on the ground in the great hall. "Dad," Hiccup tried to protest, but was faced with, "We had a deal!" "I know it was before I," he tugged his hair in frustration, "Aaah, it's all so messed up." He pointed at his son, "everything in the ring; a trick? A lie?" "I screwed up. I should have told you before now. Take this out on me. Be mad at me, but please, don't hurt Toothless. "The dragon? That's what you're worried about? Not the people you almost killed?" Hiccup was about to have an attack, but tried his best to keep up with his father, "he was just protecting me! He's not dangerous." Stoick was furious. "They've killed hundreds of us!" "And we've killed thousands of them! They defend themselves, that's all!" Hiccup yelled. He needed to breathe. He was about to cry. "They raid us because they have to. If they don't bring enough food back, they'll be eaten themselves! There's something else on their island, dad. It's a dragon th..." Stoick turned immediately, "Their island? So you've been to their nest?"

He was nervous. He knew he would give something away. "Damnit" he thought "Uhm, did I say nest?" "How did you find it?" "No, I didn't. Toothless did. Only a dragon can find the island. His chest burned with pain and he was tearing up. He stood up straight as realization struck his face. "Oh, no, no, dad, no, please! It's not what you think. You don't know what you're up against. FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE WOULD YOU PLEASE JUST LISTEN TO ME," he was smacked to the floor, crying, but his father wouldn't see. "You've thrown your lot in with them." The next words his father would say would haunt him, "You're not a viking. You're not my son."

He sat and cried as he heard his father yell out, "ready the ships!" After he was gone, he ran home and cried. This was the deepest he had ever cut. The gods had given it all to him, and they seemed to be laughing at him, taking it all away. Hiccup cried hard and started to clean up his wounds, but he realized that he felt a strange sense of fulfillment. He was done with all this. He stopped cleaning and started to cut deeply over the veins. He had never bled this much before, and he felt weak.

Astrid had to see him. She had to make sure he was alright. She knocked on the door and heard a rustle. No footsteps. No cheerful, "Come in!" She walked in the door herself and knocked on his bedroom door. Hiccup couldn't speak. He knew that his father would want him out of there right at that moment. But it wasn't his father. "Hiccup, open up, it's me." It was the most soothing human voice he knew. He couldn't let her know what was happening. He'd try to keep her outside the door as long as he could. He didn't know whether to just cut all the way down his arm or try to clean this up and stop the blood.

"Don't come in here," he said, and realizing that she did care and that it might be alright, he decided to stop the blood. Astrid, being herself, barged in the room and gasped at what she saw. "You're injured," she said. He hated the pity and wished he had ended it. He was a wreck. "No," he said, "I'm not," he knew she would stop bugging him about it.

Astrid saw the dagger in his hand and almost screamed. "Hiccup," she cried, "did you do this to yourself?" "Astrid, just leave," he was done hiding it. He was done living. "Let me die in peace." "Hiccup!" "Leave." "No." "Go," he was in tears. "Forget I ever existed. You wouldn't have much of a problem with that would you?" She was terrified. "Hiccup, no, stop, please," she tried to calm him, but he held the dagger over his skin, ready to cut open a vein from his elbow to his wrist. "Hiccup, stop!" "why should I?" She began to cry, "because you are the smartest, sweetest, most special viking I have ever known. You showed me beauty that I didn't know existed. And because we, are going to get your dragon back." Hiccup moved the dagger away, but suddenly needed the support of the bed.

"They aren't leaving until tomorrow," she bandaged him up, "there will be someone guarding Toothless tonight, but I think we can do this together. Hiccup gave a genuine smile. It was one of the first few in forever. He still waited for her to ask about all the scars and the pain. Astrid knew. She understood him. She knew his pain. She had to be at the top of the academy, or her parents would disown her. It was too late for that to be stopped. She was done with them. She wanted to leave, and the person who treated her best was Hiccup. All her other friends poked fun at her and they didn't think it hurt.

When she was done wrapping the wound, she hugged Hiccup and he felt very weak to her. "Hiccup," she worried, "how much blood did you lose?" He frowned at the floor, which was soaked. "I'm staying with you tonight," she commanded, "you don't have a choice." "but," Hiccup tried to protest, but was cut off, "Your father's not coming home tonight. He's getting the ships ready." He never thought that this was how the first time he slept with a girl would go. Well, how it started out anyway.

Astrid didn't like him like that, or at least, that was the impression he was getting at the moment. He didn't know anymore. He thought she had, but, he just didn't know. She pulled the blankets over Hiccup and laid down next to him on top of them. She had to keep awake so they could get the dragon later, but he needed to regain strength.

It was dark when Astrid woke him up. He felt better, like he usually did after sleeping it off, but he didn't know if that would help after loosing that much blood. "Come on," she said, "We're gonna get Toothless back." Then it dawned on him. How were they going to get past the guard? "but how are we going to get past the guard," he questioned. She looked at him and grinned. "I'm gonna pretend I'm injured and I need help. I'll try not to attract too much attention, but you'll have to sneak in quickly and get him."

"Astrid," he was curious, "why are you helping me?" She turned around as she was heading out the door, "because I like you," she blushed a little. He could only tell because of the moonlight shining in. "What are you going to do after all this?" he asked. "well actually," she paused embarrassed, "I sorta wanted to come with you..."

Hiccup couldn't believe that she had sided with him and the dragons over the other vikings when she had once wanted to be at the top of the line when killing them. "Well there's always room," he smiled at her. She was his best friend, and he believed that he was becoming hers.

"Astrid wait," he called to her as she was about to leave the room. "Yeah?" "You might want to get a dragon." She looked confused, "how?" "there are some at the ring, you know. I could get one into the forest for you if you wanted" She smiled, "that would be great." Out of the dragons he remembered from training, he knew just which one to have follow Toothless. Although he didn't quite know how he would do it, he was going to do it for Astrid.

"Got your stuff packed?" he heard Astrid from downstairs. "Ummm, it will only take a minute," he told her. "Okay well, think you can carry my things too?" she came to his room again. "yeah," he would attach the baskets to Toothless. "So, meet me at the lake where Toothless was?" "Yeah," she said. "Maybe we should put our things there first." "Good idea," Astrid told him, "gotta be stealthy when you get that dragon." He gulped. He was nervous. They had one shot.

They walked into the woods together. He was still trying to figure out whether Astrid liked him like that or not. He used to absolutely adore her, but now, she was a friend. Higher than him, but still a friend and he had accepted that, but he was just trying to figure out what was happening. They walked in silence for a little while. After dropping their things off, they had a conversation about where they would go. They decided that going wherever the wind took them would be the easiest choice. It was clear that they wouldn't be able to pack heavy, and if they were caught, they'd have to leave immediately.

When they came back into the clearing they scaled around the houses and made their way to the ring. Astrid then did something that Hiccup hadn't expected. She kissed him on the lips and it seemed to last forever. He wanted it to be over quickly and hoped that she hadn't noticed his awkwardness and that his pants might start to bulge. It ended and his face was a little red. "Wish me luck," she whispered, and ran quickly to the side of the mountain. Hiccup heard a cry for help, then some shuffling. That should have been all the guards. He inched towards the ring and entered. That was the last thing he could remember before everything went black.

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**When you play Sims 3 and name your parrot Toothless and your little brother also plays and named his parrot Toothless and you're like hey you copied me and hes looking at you like you're an alien.**

Hiccup awoke with his arms and legs chained to the wall. He looked around. That was funny. This looked like... He gasped. They were in the dungeon. His eyes adjusted as they inched the walls. Astrid was there too, but she was unconscious next to him. Through the restricted movements of the chains, he shook her and she opened her eyes, startled, and reached for an axe that wasn't there. "Astrid," he whispered, unsure if anyone was listening, "what happened?"

He felt a surge of warmth move move through him as Astrid wrapped her arms around him. "Woah," he blushed. "You don't remember?" "don't remember what? Astrid, what happened?" "They caught us." Astrid was crying, "I'm so sorry Hiccup." He wrapped his arms around her and told her, "I'm the one who should be sorry." She pulled away from him. "What for?" "I should never have tried to become a better viking. I should have ended this cruel life long ago." "Hiccup..." she felt sick. "You can't do that." "why not?" his voice grew louder. "I've just hurt people Astrid. I'm hurting dragons, and I'm hurting you." "No, you're not," she gave him a quick kiss and told him, "It'll be okay."

"I just sent my best friend to his death. I'm a horrible person." "No you didn't," she said. He was confused for a moment before she said, " they've delayed the trip. I hurt some of their men pretty bad before they threw me in here." She slid away from where she was sitting and started to tug on a rock. "There's only one entrance to this dungeon, so there's a guard there. If anyone escapes, they'd have to assume that they would still be in the dungeon. If we cover up our tracks, then they wouldn't look for us outside."

She gave the rock one final tug to show an entryway. "now all we need is to get out of these chains," she told him. "I was hoping that you'd have an idea." "If I still have it..." he searched his belt and was delighted to find that his familiar blade had not been taken. It was still a little bloodstained. He usually cleaned it better. "What are you doing with that?" she asked him. "you'll see," he took her arm and she flinched, knowing what it was used for. She didn't know why, but she was nervous. He took the dagger and put it in the keyhole for the cuff. "Do you have a hair clip that I could use?" she was confused, but she trusted him. "umm yeah," she reached into her hair with her free hand and pulled one out, letting some hair free. He bent it and she was about to protest, but she became confused as to what he was doing.

He took the dagger and one end of the clip in the keyhole and before she knew it, there was a clicking noise, and her arm was free. He did this to her arms and legs before freeing his own legs. "Astrid, can you see if you can get these for me," he asked handing her the dagger and bent clip. She didn't know if she could do it, but he guided her through it and she undid it for him. He motioned for his dagger back, but she held it and told him, "I'll be keeping this for a while. He understood why she did and nodded. "Let's get out of here!" he whispered urgently. They pulled the rock back and Astrid crawled in first, letting Hiccup pull the rock back into place, and, to his discomfort, have a view of her butt. He wasn't into that type of thing. He wanted love, it wasn't the same as lust.

He was relieved when they got out of the tunnel on the other side of the mountain. It was dark outside. There was only one person who lived there, but he was old, and hated by the rest of the community. They would have to quickly get the dragons out. The guard was gone, as he had been moved to the dungeon. They jumped down through the cage bars. They quickly got into the cage, and the dragons didn't try to attack them. They just looked at them, confused. Hiccup gave Toothless a big hug, and took Astrid's hand. He walked her towards the blue dragon. She was terrified, but again, she trusted him.

The dragon pulled back a little when he moved her hand towards its nose. He kept her and going and she winced. When the dragon allowed her to touch her, Astrid was really surprised. "See? It's alright," Hiccup convinced her. She was dumbfounded. "Now, try to ride her." Astrid was confused. "How do I?" He motioned to her to climb on the dragon's back, "Just go ahead." She was a little scared, but mounted the dragon with no trouble. "wow, that was easy." "you're not done. You still have to learn how to fly. I haven't heard anything yet, but we should get out of here." He motioned to the dragon, "come on buddy, follow me."

The dragon followed and they left with ease. They got into the forest, but the dragon started to go her own way. "No," Astrid thought of a name, "Stormfly." Hiccup thought it was a nice name. He turned and said, "Come on, Stormfly," and she immediately followed. Astrid looked at Hiccup, frustrated. "You'll figure it out," he said. She sighed. She knew she would. Stormfly followed Toothless into the woods. Stormfly had no saddle, so there was no space to put baskets. Toothless carried both of them. He gave Astrid a quick flying lesson. She was quick at it and they flew to the south. They would have to be in a warmer place before they could settle.

They moved on and on. Hiccup had brought money with him, as it was universally used, since it was gold.. They passed many islands, some small, some large. A storm came up, and they had to land, but it was risky. There was no shelter and they were far from Berk. They would have to land on the next island. It seemed like hours until they saw something. It was large, and appeared to have buildings on it. If they were inhabited, that could be good or bad. "Astrid!" Hiccup yelled, just catching her attention. She looked at him through the blowing wind, and he pointed at the village.

They landed away from the village and would have to walk without their dragons. They would be able to stand the cold. They were cold. They put on the fur coats from each of their baskets. There was no shame in putting their arms around each other as they walked. They knocked on the first door they came across. It opened immediately. A large woman stood at the door. "Who are you," she stopped, "get inside, its cold." She seemed very hospitable. She asked them how they had gotten there and they explained that their ship was caught in the storm. "That must have been a very small ship if there were only two runaway teenagers on it." "We're not," Astrid started, then stopped realizing that that was exactly what they were. "Don't worry," the woman smiled, "I did the same when I was young. In fact, my husband should be home soon." Astrid blushed. They weren't officially together, but she intended for them to be soon.

She gave them soup, and they were very grateful for it. She asked them about why they had left. They formulated a story. Hiccup spoke up first, "well, my father is the chief and he had umm arranged a marriage for me. He wanted me to be chief too. I love Astrid and nobody else. And chief? Not for me." Astrid blushed deeply. "well, you're very brave to get up and leave by yourselves. We left with a group of ten other people." "we've been sailing forever," Astrid added, "all the way from Berk." "Berk?" the woman's interest peaked. "that's where I'm from." Hiccup gulped. This could end badly. "Is your father... Stoick?" Hiccup trembled. "umm yeah..." Well, your father and I were going to get married. I ran and he stayed because he was the next in line. Our marriage was arranged too."

"wow," Hiccup said. The woman seemed curious, "how's your mother doing?" Hiccup felt a sharp pain in his chest. "well, if I knew her I'd ask her," he tried to make the situation humorous. "You didn't know Valka?" the woman questioned. "I heard that she disappeared when I was a baby," the topic was touchy to Hiccup, and she could tell he didn't want to talk about it.

"So, are you two getting married soon?" Hiccup laughed nervously and Astrid blushed. She replied, "we're waiting a while." "You are a little young, aren't you? I can't believe that Stoick would do that. He was a nice person. He knew what that felt like." They were ready to run when the woman said, "people change. Where are my manners? I'm Glenda." They were relieved to know that she wasn't going to do anything to them. "I'm Hiccup and this is my girl, Astrid," he put his arm around her. He loved to embarrass her. He knew she would be upset later, but it was all worth it. She was blushing wildly, but their cheeks were still red from the cold.

A man came in and was confused to see these newcomers in his home. "Glenda, who are these kids?" "you remember Stoick, right?" "Yeah, and I don't know if I like where this is going." "It's alright, this is his son, Hiccup, and his fiance, Astrid." "well what are ya'll doin' down here?" he asked. "they ran away, same exact situation as us!" "Stoick arranged a marriage? I don't think he would do that." They got ready to run again when Glenda replied, "That's just what I said. But people change under pressure." The man looked at them and said, "well, you're not going to be able to get out of here until the storm lets up. You're welcome to stay with us if you want." "thank you sir," Astrid replied. They had to be careful. This could end badly.

After a while they went to retrieve their baskets of possessions and check the dragons. On the way, they snagged a basket of fish to feed the dragons when nobody was watching. Hiccup and Astrid searched a little and found an inlet in a mountain for the dragons. They'd be fine in this weather, just a little bored. When they returned, they discovered that there was only one guest room and one bed. This reminded Hiccup of the topic. "Astrid," he startled her, "are we officially together now?" It took her very much by surprise because Hiccup would have a hard time asking a question like that. He was awkward, but he had warmed p to her. "I guess we are," she said after a minute of thinking. "Does that mean I can have a kiss?" he playfully asked, knowing it would bring out her beautiful smile. Sure enough, it did, and when she kissed him, it was the most comfortable kiss he had ever had with her.

That night, Astrid snuggled up against his chest, but his mind was filled with thoughts. He wanted to take the dagger against his skin again. He had just betrayed his father, along with all of Berk. He worried about the dragons. It was great that one person liked the fact that he could be different. She chose him over everything that she had ever known. Then it struck him. They were fugitives.


	5. Chapter 5

**I think I will probably definitely finish this story. Shhhh don't tell anyone that I'm only 14 and in a low level LA class, but take it in account when you judge my writing. I have an absolutely evil idea. None of you would like it at first, but it might end well. Should I do something evil? It'll lengthen the story quite a bit. Let me know what you think. Oh and the first few paragraphs were typed at school next to a cold window. Notice how the setting does change the state of mind and ability.**

They could never go back. It wasn't like he wanted to; it was just that they might need to in the future. There were other settlements, but it just felt like they were missing something. It was probably just the "Friends" that he had made within the past few weeks. They only wanted to be around him to learn his secrets and to steal them. Hiccup didn't know what time it was. He wanted to sleep and he was tired, but he just couldn't seem to keep his eyes from wandering the room. Even though it was dark, and the sound of the wind outside was calming, he couldn't help but notice how warm and loving these people seemed. They were friendly people, and, appeared to be open to new ideas. It was almost too good to be true. When he was completely exhausted, Hiccup let the winds bring him to sleep.

When he awoke, Astrid was gone, and he was confused because the littlest of shifting or noises woke him up. She must have tried really hard not to wake him up. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He did love Astrid, but it was a totally different thing than trust. He didn't know what was happening but he slowly got up and reached to make sure he had his dagger. He cursed to himself. She still had it. What was he going to do if there was trouble? He opened the door slightly, and was surprised at what he found. The two women were chatting happily and making a large breakfast. It smelled great, but he was repulsed by the amount of food. If what she had made was given to two times the household in Hiccup-sized portions, there would still be leftovers. He made his way down the stairs, sat down at the oak table, and plastered on his everyday fake smile.

He still didn't entirely trust Glenda, or her husband for that fact. He didn't even know the man's name. He was happy that there was a place to stay. He would have to pick it up later. He was known for not paying a lot of attention. It was odd that they had just let them in like that, not even thinking about the possibilities of them being spies or out to raid villages. They knew Stoick, so that must have proved something at least to them. It could also mean they were lying outcast scum. His father had never even mentioned a group breaking off of the mainland other than the outcasts, and that made him wonder. It wasn't a good wonder. It was a terrible feeling.

He wondered about these people, and raised his guard back up to the highest level. If they had anything to do with the outcasts, which would mean that they already knew who he was and what he looked like. That also put Astrid in danger. They would leave as soon as the storm let up. When he walked downstairs, he was greeted by three children that he had seen before. One was a very young girl, only about three or four years old. The middle, he guessed, looked seven or eight. The next, was a boy Hiccup's age, whom to his surprise, was not much taller than him. He was scrawny too. The look in his eyes stopped Hiccup's heart for a moment. They looked at him desperately. They plead, "Help me," and Hiccup was the only one who could see it. It was just like the one he had seen on Toothless' face. He was pale blond with short spiky hair. There was something special about this boy.

The youngest caught his attention with, "is it twue? Did you weally fight a dwagon wifout a sword?" Hiccup laughed. Astrid had been entertaining them. She stumbled over her words, but continued on saying what she was trying to say. "Yes," he told the girl, laughing, he wanted to know if others had this problem. He watched the expression of the oldest, as he pulled down on the neck of his shirt, "And I'm never doing it again!" the older boy's expression was shocked, and a slight gasp was heard, but he pulled himself together quickly. Hiccup gave a pained laugh, but the younger children didn't notice.

Glenda introduced the three children, "our youngest is Maryann, this little devil is Sven," she pointed at him and he gave an evil grin. "that's Jack," she told him. "hello," Hiccup said to all three of them. Only the younger two replied with high-pitched "hellos" Jack stayed silent, and gave an awkward wave and forced smile. He was just as awkward as Hiccup. There was something about those blue eyes that Hiccup loved. They were once filled with happiness and love. They were stone cold now, but the fact that he could see the love, assured him that it was not too late. He wanted this particular boy to be happy. He didn't know exactly why, but it was something about those eyes he had.

Hiccup smiled back, particularly at the boy, and he could tell that he knew. Just a few glances from someone who understood. He didn't want to humiliate him, but he knew. "Oh, and by the way," Glenda said, "They're sleeping in your room. You're gonna have to stay with your younger siblings." He groaned. Hiccup turned, "I thought you said that that was an extra bedroom." "Sometimes she forgets that I exist, when really, I was just spending the night in the armory because I couldn't see well enough to get home" Jack whispered, loud enough for his mother to hear. "Hey if it's not a problem with you, we'll sleep on the floor." Jack was a little upset. He whispered to Hiccup, "I'll sleep on the floor, just don't make me stay with them!" Glenda watched on and was about to protest when Hiccup said, "that's alright. This is your home. We're leaving as soon as the storm lets up anyway."

Jack didn't want to see this boy leave. He wanted to know more. He wanted to know about the scars that lined his chest. "Well boys, breakfast won't be ready for another hour. Geirmund won't be home for a while," she turned to Astrid, and attempted to explain something to her about cutting vegetables. Hiccup made a mental note of the man's name. He whispered to Jack, "let's talk." Jack motioned for him to follow him up the stairs. He did so and Astrid gave him a worried glance. It'd be fine. He had seen this boy, he felt like he knew him. It was strange, but he felt like they were connected in some way.

When they got up to the room, Jack shut the door, and without warning, began to cry. Hiccup was confused. "Are you okay?" he asked waiting for a sniffly reply. "I thought I was the only one. Ivar told me to stop, and I couldn't, and now I've lost him." Hiccup bent down to look him in the eyes. "Please explain this to me. Who's Ivar? Maybe I can help you." Jack backed away and curled up into a ball in the corner, "I don't need help. I need them to see that I'm just different, that's all." Hiccup sat on the bed, "that's exactly what I meant. I'm different in more ways than you could imagine. That's the real reason I left." Jack looked up at him, "how?" "well, I guess I'm gonna have to show you. Get your coat."

**Having some issues with life in general. Had a really bad day, it might just be that. I can probably still do updates but I might have some trouble sometimes and go a few weeks without although I'm nowhere near that point yet. I'll try my best to keep updating. What do ya'll think about Jack and what part should he play in the story?**

**Sorry I meant to update this like four days ago. I was just notified that I am going to be playing a standup bass solo in an orchestra recrutiment concert.**


	6. Chapter 6

***Stitch voice* haii. So far this is Hiccstrid and has nothing to do with rotd. That is up to you to decide. Do you want this to be a rotd fic or is this just some random guy named Jack? If you do, would you like to keep Astrid with Hiccup or put him with Jack? Please leave a review or pm me about it!**

They had to sneak out after breakfast. "Astrid, if they ask, we went to trade around town," Hiccup told her, "we should be back." Astrid was curious. "where are you going?" Hiccup was a bad liar, "Ummm, just for a walk." "Hiccup, where?" "You know where!" he kept his voice low. "No, you can't take him there!" "Astrid, trust me." She was about to protest when Glenda walked up and started talking to her. As they left, Hiccup could hear her explaining birthing children to Astrid and chuckled. He could almost see her grimace. Jack began to laugh a little too and Hiccup decided to start a conversation while he was in a happy mood.

"So, who's this "Ivar" guy?" Jack turned away from him. "I've never told anybody about him before." "your secret's safe with me." Jack turned towards him, "I don't know why, but I trust you. Please don't hurt me like the others did." He gave a look of pain. "I promise," he thought of the way that he was before Toothless and Astrid and how similar this boy must have felt. There was a pause. If this boy had lost someone, he was definitely stronger than Hiccup. He sighed. He was weak and pathetic. "my lover," Jack simply said. Hiccup was shocked. This boy was in love with another boy. He took the information in for a second. "What happened to him?" Hiccup asked, even though he was thoroughly disgusted, he didn't want to hurt the other boy. "Exiled. He decided to call a town meeting to talk about it. He made me stay anonymous so that if anything happened, I wouldn't get hurt. He wanted to make it all better for me." "And something did happen." Hiccup saw that the other boy was hurt.

"I'm sorry. I almost lost someone important to me too a few days ago. That's why we're here." "Astrid?" he asked. Hiccup laughed and replied "nope." Jack seemed to be confused. He stared down at the ground and they kept walking. "we're almost there. Promise me you won't freak out?" Hiccup asked. "yeah…" Jack looked a bit worried. When they got to the cave, there were no dragons to be seen. They must have wandered farther inside. Hiccup motioned for Jack to follow him inside. Jack was scared. He hesitated because he recognized this place. It was where bad things happened. These were things that he didn't want to talk about. He was surprised when Hiccup started to call out, "Toothless? Where are you buddy?" Jack looked at him curiously. "Stormfly, come here girl!" "Who are these people?" Jack asked him, squinting and peering through the darkness. "Not people," Hiccup decided to tell him, "they're dragons." Jack was amazed. "dragons," he said, "that's amazing." "I'm guessing that they're not really much of a problem here." "No, but they told me about them. How hard they were to fight." Hiccup frowned at him, "that's why they're not safe in the village."

Jack wanted to ask him so many questions about these dragons. He knew nothing about them. Suddenly, a low pitched growl was heard. "Hiccup, I'm scared," Jack grabbed his arm and held him close. Hiccup knew he wasn't scared. He knew what was happening. Maybe this was okay. He was glad that Jack couldn't see his face well enough to tell that he was blushing wildly. "Toothless?" he called out again. The sound could be heard again, but louder. It was getting even darker and they had to scale the walls. "hey buddy, where are you?" Toothless kept making noise and they became closer and closer. The air was thick and musty and something smelled awful. Jack knew what it was. He didn't want to have to say anything, but Hiccup asked him first. "What's that smell?" he made a gagging sound and Jack didn't quite know how Hiccup would react. "bodies," he told him. Hiccup froze and Jack bumped into him. "What?" Hiccup was terrified all of a sudden. How would Jack know that? Was he going to kill Hiccup there on the spot? It was dark, so Hiccup reached for his dagger, which again wasn't there. He mentally cursed to himself. "J-Jack, what's going on?" He took Hiccup's hand. "this is their dump, and this is where my family died-my real family." "Who's dump? Jack, what's happening?" "The outcasts had stowaways Hiccup. These people just wanted to get away, but had nothing. They stopped here and those who were caught, were murdered. When there's a battle between the outcasts and ours, they always flee, but not without taking lives." Hiccup could feel Jack's pain. "Jack, I," he didn't know what to say so he just turned and hugged him. Tears flowed onto his shoulder. Toothless gave a loud yelp, like he knew that they had stopped searching for the moment. Hiccup broke away from the hug and yelled, "Toothless, get over here." He seemed to just want to stay in the same spot and screech. "looks like we're gonna have to go find him," Hiccup said. Jack's mind was still locked on the hug and how great it felt to just be cared about. He felt like he knew Hiccup. From the moment he laid his eyes on him, he had had a huge crush on him. It was too bad that he was getting married to Astrid. The more Jack tried to ignore the thought and push it away, the more he was drawn in by it.

They kept moving towards the sound until they saw a small light. Toothless had lit a fire. They started running towards it and saw that the dragons sat in front of the fire. Stormfly appeared to be asleep while Toothless stared at them. He bared his teeth at Jack and growled. "It's okay buddy," Hiccup put his arms around Toothless, "he's a friend." Toothless gave an acknowledging nod and gestured over to Stormfly with a low growl. She was injured. Hiccup looked at her. She opened her eyes and stared at Jack. He was a stranger. She didn't trust him. He was terrified. She gave a low growl, telling that she was still capable of killing him. He kept his eyes on the injured dragon, although it was Toothless who really scared him.

He watched curiously as Hiccup looked at the blue dragon's leg. "Something fall on you girl?" Jack heard him say. He was really attractive to Jack, and he wished he could be normal. She growled again. Hiccup didn't really know a heck of a lot about dragons, but he didn't think it was broken. They were lucky that it was only a minor sprain. Hiccup dumped a basket of fish on the ground between the dragons. "Now share," he warned them knowing how territorial they got when it came to food.

The dragons looked at each other and Stormfly grunted. They tried to make the amount that each of them got even. "We still have some time," Hiccup took off his coat. "come here," he motioned, "sit down" Jack was a little uncomfortable around the dragons, but he trusted this boy- he was magnificent. He sat down. Hiccup was really curious. He lifted his shirt, "I don't really know how to talk about this," he said, "but you said something about it. I wanted to know." Jack bit his lip as though Hiccup would not accept him if he knew about the problem that they shared. He followed in lifting his shirt. Hiccup gasped.

Some of these were much deeper than his own. He wanted to hug Jack and tell him that it was okay. He wanted Jack to live. It was a strange connection that he felt. It was similar to the one he felt with Astrid, but much stronger. He tried to push that thought away. He couldn't be with another boy. That was taboo on the highest level. He loved Astrid anyway-right?

"Jack- I," he couldn't finish and latched his arms around the boy. It was strange-the way he felt. He didn't know what this feeling was. It couldn't be what he suspected. He felt a wetness on his shoulder, and pulled away from Jack. "What's wrong?" "I just," he couldn't speak and began to sob into his hands. Hiccup took him by the shoulders. "It'll be alright," he told Jack, pulling him into an embrace, "it gets better. I promise." Jack looked up at him. "We should probably get back.

They walked back to Jack's home. "Hey Jack, what's your last name?" "Frost. Yours?" "Haddock. Nice name." "What now?" Jack asked. "I don't really know."

**Please remember to review and vote on Jack or Astrid. I'm leaning towards Jack a bit, I know, but if more people want Astrid, I'll do that instead.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi. Who wants to be my bestest internet friend? Nobody? Okay. ) ;**

**My LA teacher used my short response question answer as an example for all her classes! Yay!**

**I really thought that it would lean towards Jack, but only a few people said Jack and mostly just friends from school. I'll probably end up doing another story or stories with Jack X Hiccup.**

As they walked back, the winds picked up. Snow blew in their faces and they were going to have to find shelter soon. Hiccup's body wouldn't take any more, and he collapsed about a quarter mile from the house. Jack was terrified for his new friend. He covered Hiccup in his coat and helped him up. Hiccup began to protest, but couldn't get his voice to carry through the storm. Jack tried to keep Hiccup standing up, as he didn't know if he had the strength to carry him the rest of the way.

The next thing Hiccup could remember was waking up to Astrid and Jack's faces. Everything hurt. He was freezing. He gave a weak smile. "Hey," Astrid asked, "how you doing?" He suddenly realized that Astrid was squeezing his hand. His voice was shallow and soft. "hey," he tried to sit up a little, but his head hurt and Astrid pushed him back down. He was covered in blankets. "Rest," she simply said. Jack only smiled and left the room. Hiccup was cold. "What happened?" he asked her. "Jack came in with you over his shoulder," she said, "he saved your life."

"How long was I out?" he asked her, scared of the answer. "Just a few hours," she told him, "you got off lucky." He gave a sigh of relief. "Astrid?" he asked her, freezing, waiting for an answer. "Yes?" she asked him, "I'm cold. Hold me?" Astrid said nothing, but pulled the sheets over herself and draped an arm around Hiccup and snuggled close to him, pressing her nose against his earlobe. He turned his head so that their noses were touching.

They studied the freckles on each other's faces, counting them, looking at the shapes and memorizing the patterns and colors. Hiccup took his hand to her face, "you're beautiful, you know?" She laughed. "Okay." It was already dark, and Jack knocked on the door. Astrid sat up quickly, and embarrassed, said quietly, "umm, come in." Jack came in the room, "are you alright Hiccup?" "Thanks to you," he motioned to Jack, "I owe you one." He smiled and blushed slightly as Astrid watched him. She gave Jack a smile that warmed his heart. Hiccup looked at him and said, "It was pretty cold out there, I don't know how you did that."

Jack appeared to be caught off guard. "Yeah, uh, I'm used to the cold," he simply said. Hiccup thought that there might be more to it but shrugged. "Well anyways, thank you." Jack could tell by the look on his face that he wanted to say more, but couldn't. Astrid eyed them both suspiciously, as she didn't know what had happened at the cave. "Oh yeah, how are they doing?" Hiccup was confused for a moment, but realized that she was talking about the dragons, "well…" He didn't want to have to say anything, "some rocks must have hit Stormfly," he watched her face twist into one of utter terror and quickly said, "but she's alright, just a minor sprain to her leg." She sighed in relief.

Jack sat on the floor with his legs crossed like a child, "so how long have you guys been doing this? Hiccup was embarrassed about the short amount of time between meeting the dragon and considering him to be his best friend. "Actually, only about a month," he said, his face pinkening. "And even less time for me," Astrid added, curious to see this boy's reaction. Jack's jaw dropped, "wow," he wanted to know all about these dragons, and they could stay up all night, as they were sleeping in the same room. It took Hiccup a few hours to regain the warmth in his body-only with Astrid's help of course. His thoughts were a lot clearer now. Jack was still a stranger. They couldn't release all of their information to this boy.

After hearing some of Jack's questions, such as, "why do you trust me?" he desperately wanted to ask Astrid some questions in private. They were tired and Hiccup guessed that it was probably about two by the time they decided to sleep. They had nowhere to go in the morning, and as much as they wanted to continue talking, Astrid and Jack couldn't keep awake. She at one point fell asleep on Hiccup's shoulder to let the two boys talk. Jack's face lost its constant amused grin and his eyelids began to slowly flicker up and down when Hiccup said, "Jack, I think it's getting to be time to sleep."

Jack just gave a slow nod and curled up into a ball where he had been sitting. He was about to sleep when he heard Hiccup's soft voice say, "Astrid, hun, wake up, we gotta get in bed." He opened an eye to see Hiccup attempting to wake Astrid by shaking her shoulder. That girl was in the way of that magnificent boy. She was so lucky to have him. When her eye opened, he immediately shut his and listened to them shuffle around on the wooden floors. He kept listening and heard the soft fabric moving with the storm as a calming background noise. He let the sound of the wintery winds lull him to sleep.

Hiccup, however, having slept earlier, and not really needing that much sleep anyways, laid awake with Astrid in his arms for another hour or two, maybe it was three? He could only guess. His thoughts were everywhere, like why did Astrid just decide to suddenly go with him? Was she there to betray him? To report back to his father about his dragon? That couldn't be it. She showed no distaste towards the dragons. He thought about scenarios in which he could trust her completely. Was she maybe tired of the Viking life? Maybe her parents had set up an arranged marriage?

There were so many maybes. Hiccup thought his mind might explode and gave into sleep. When he awoke, he didn't feel very well. He sniffled and realized he was freezing. He hoped that he wasn't sick. He turned to the other side of the bed and realized Astrid wasn't there. Glenda must have been teaching her to cook again. Jack was still lying on the floor, but his limbs were sprawled out and his mouth hung open lazily.

Hiccup sat up, stretched his arms, and yawned loudly. It must have woken Jack up, because by the time he stood up, a pale boy with disheveled hair and bright blue eyed stared up at him. "Did I wake you up?" "Nah," he lied, "just got up." The boys helped each other fix their hair and came down the stairs together. Hiccup wasn't really hungry. The others all ate large amounts of food that he didn't think that he could stomach. He stuck with some bread. Astrid gave him a worried glance when she saw that he wasn't eating the eggs that they had made. Hiccup loved eggs.

Hiccup suddenly felt the urge to sneeze. Astrid, sitting next to him, took the back of her hand and touched his forehead lightly. The cool touch was nice, even though he was freezing. She gasped and put a hand to her mouth, "Hiccup, you're burning up!" He stopped chewing the tiny bite of bread that he had taken and looked around the table. All eyes were on him. Glenda gave a worried look, as she knew this could be deadly. She immediately said, "Hiccup, go back to bed. I'll get the healer over here." She didn't know how a walk around town could have caused this, much less for him to pass out, but he was a weak boy. He didn't seem like he could handle much.

Hiccup walked up the stairs tiredly, only hoping that he hadn't given this virus to Astrid. He got into the bed that actually belonged to Jack and pulled the blanket over him. They might be here a little longer than he had hoped.

Astrid and Jack came up to see him after breakfast. "Glenda's going to get the healer," Astrid told him assuringly. She squeezed his hand and he smiled. Jack just looked at him with a blank expression, like he couldn't smile, but he didn't frown for Hiccup's sake.

About fifteen minutes later, an elderly woman walked in. She was tall with almost white hair and had a tan deerskin wrapped around her. She smiled down at Hiccup on the bed. He looked up at her for answers.

She instructed him to open his mouth and stick his tongue out. After about a minute of examining his throat, she touched his forehead to come to a conclusion. "Just what I thought," she said, "It's the Influenza." Hiccup almost choked on his dried tongue. "Keep him hydrated and try to keep his head cool, but dry." Hiccup was freezing. He didn't understand why he had to be colder. It was the healer's orders. She studied his face, probably deciding on if she had seen him or not.

She started walking towards the bedroom door, "I will be back within a day with some medicine." Hiccup stuck his tongue back out at the thought of medicine. He had always hated the taste. Jack laughed.

His lips were dry, and he requested something to drink. He hoped that there would be some water left from their breakfast, as he hadn't had a chance to drink any of his. He turned to Jack, "umm hey Jack, could you maybe get me some water please?" he said awkwardly. Jack immediately turned and walked towards the door that the healer had left open, "yeah."

Glenda left the room and it was just him and Astrid. She leaned down to kiss him on the cheek, but he pushed her away. She gave him an offended look. "Astrid, I don't want you to get sick."

She pouted at him, but realizing that he was right, she brought her facial expression back to normal. "Now go have fun with Glenda or whoever. I'll be fine. If two of us get sick, then who will take care of the dragons?" He did have a good point. "Won't it be a little boring up here on your own?" she asked him. "Well if you really wanted to give me something to do, you could hand me those knitting needles and that yarn."

She was surprised. Hiccup knew how to knit? He knew just what she was thinking. "I don't exactly know what I'm doing, but maybe you could teach me really quick?" She laughed. She was going to teach her boyfriend how to knit.

**I AM SO SORRY ABOUT HOW LONG THAT TOOK. Generated excuse: My spacebar broke.**

**Okay I broke it on purpose but I fixed it. Anyways, what'd you think? Leave a suggestion if you like. Should Hiccup go back to battle the Red Death? If so, will Stoik accept his son? And will they take Jack with them to find Ivar(I think I made his name that)? **

**Okay let me give you some advice. If you don't do anything athletic at all, DO NOT try to do 80 curls, 60 sit ups, 10 push ups, and run for ten minutes all at once. I'm serious when I say I can't feel anything it hurts so bad.**


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